Playlist 12.08.17 : Five Songs for the Weekend

Juanita Stein – Someone Else’s Dime

Juanita Stein has unveiled a new song and music video from her upcoming solo album, America. Juanita Stein will release America on Handwritten Records and Nude Records on July 28, 2017. Already well known as singer and songwriter for the Australian rock band, Howling Bells, Stein is ready to release her first solo full-length. She worked with renowned producer Gus Seyffert (Beck, Ryan Adams).

Director Rob Loud, tells us, “My goal is to create a feeling, and let the artist’s lyrics and music tell the story. For this video, the visuals are meant to evoke a sense of strength from moving on, and the trepidations of starting over again.” The video follows Juanita freely flowing across Western America, in a cinematic exploration of striking landscapes and evocative vocals. The recognizably romantic setting fits well with an album pertaining primarily to the inevitable disparity between expectations and reality that so many encounter in pursuit of an “American dream.”

Liam Gallagher – Chinatown

Perennial UK-rock instigator Liam Gallagher has released the second single from his upcoming debut solo album As You Were, a title which is also the way he signs most of his tweets. “Chinatown” is a number driven by acoustic guitars and a thumping bass drum, drenched in monolithic reverb. What is Liam singing about, seemingly from the top of a mountain? Oh, the usual stuff: “The cops are taking over/While everyone’s in yoga/And happiness is still a warm gun.” It may be the best/funniest opening of an Oasis-related song since “How many special people change?/How many lives are living strange?”

James Heather – Biomes

James Heather is a talented pianist and composer. After his debut ep Modulations: EP 1, he announced the first full-length. Stories From Far Away On Pianois out on August 18th via Ninja Tune’s imprint Ahead Of Our Time.

His words about the track:

“Biomes was written, like the other album tracks, about a news story. This specific one was focussed on the Paris climate talks, and in homage to the Biomes of our world. It’s supposed to feel upbeat and triumphant as I hoped for a good outcome, where we would respect the natural wonders of our world. Of course initially it seemed to be good news, but now Trump is pulling the USA out as we speak. This could’ve been a key moment in history where we all got on the same page to protect the Earth for the generations to come, but one decision may put a stop to that. In many years to come, will we look back to this moment as an opportunity missed?”

Malihini – Drums Rock and Roll

There’s a debut EP coming soon from the duo, too

Our first introductions to Malihini came in November 2016 with their track ‘Waiting’.

They’re the Rome duo comprised of Federica Caiozzo and Giampaolo Speziale, who last year relocated to London.

‘Waiting’ was followed-up by ‘Miss’, and now they’re sharing a new track, ‘Drums Rock And Roll’, along with some news. Their four-track debut EP is finished. It’s called ‘Lose Everything’ and will be coming out on Memphis Industries on 29 September.

“‘Drums Rock And Roll’ is four minutes of free play about youth, fun, addiction, lack of manners,” comments Giampaolo on this new song. “Our producer, Richard Formby, really brought his synths to the fore on this one, while Federica and I, sung some of the sounds we sometimes sing to each other.”

Malihini, by the way, means “newcomers” in Hawaiian.

Caroline Says – Winter Is Cold

Road trips are are a rite of passage for the American young person. And so is writing music about it. “Winter Is Cold,” a new track from singer-songwriter Caroline Says (aka Caroline Sallee), documents a journey via Greyhound bus up and down the West Coast. “Winter Is Cold” joins a long lineage of great road songs, but it does so by not reinventing the wheel. Rather, her songwriting is interested in recreating these small but elemental moments of gazing out into the countryside. She talks about breathing onto a window in a cold bus and signing her name onto the foggy surface; she admits that it’s all right to be disappointed the destination at the end of the trip won’t be as good as the trip there. Her clear-eyed narrative observations are accompanied by a blanket of guitar arpeggios and a quiet chorus of hums and sighs, giving her straightforward story a dreamy gloss. She makes music not unlike Jessica Pratt or Tiny Vipers, atmospheric folk that envelops you. The moments Sallee shares on “Winter Is Cold” are fully inhabitable, and the lived experiences from her time on the road are stories that don’t get very tiresome.